Category Archives: Energy

Asking for money is one of the more challenging things that every charity has to do. The first question we need to answer, however, is “Why are we asking?” If we don’t have a clear and compelling answer, we’re handicapping ourselves from the start.

So here’s why.

It’s to give people the opportunity to contribute to the world they believe in.

It’s to give us the ability to keep working on creating a world that works, by providing “regenerative community solutions,” i.e., practical ways of restoring and building communities that last and become self-reinforcing and self-sustaining.

Ultimately, it’s to empower the world of generosity, the you-and-me world, rather than the you-or-me world.

In The Soul of Money, Lynne Twist, who has raised more than $150 million in individual contributions, tells the story of her own first monetary contribution:Continue reading →

The challenges we face in New Jersey as a result of climate change are significant, and so therefore are the opportunities. The experience of Superstorm Sandy showed us just how ill-prepared we are for the more frequent recurrence of extreme weather; and how important it is that we set an example for taking action to mitigate our own greenhouse gas emissions, as other states are doing around us. And there’s also no doubt about the urgency of it — as you can see from this remarkable video:Continue reading →

Developing our crowdfunding campaign is giving us an extraordinary opportunity to explore using PACE to revitalize New Jersey communities. By itself, PACE is an innovative business model that creates jobs and economic development while providing the ultimate tool to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on private properties. But leveraging PACE for community development is where the real payoff is, that is to say, for the benefit of the community as a whole.

New Jersey PACE is proud to be partnering with the upcoming Intersolar Summit – New Jersey taking place on March 20th at the Sheraton Edison Hotel. Through our partnership we are able to provide Discounted Registration to NJPACE Alliance members and CRCS supporters.

Under the slogan “80% Renewable Electricity by 2050 – What does it mean today?”, the Intersolar Summit New Jersey will thoroughly assess the current business climate, future market prospects and feasibility of the aggressive renewable energy targets recently announced. Moreover, delegates will gain an in-depth understanding of the latest policy updates presented by local opinion leaders and receive insights on most up-to-date solutions and technological innovations for the PV market.The preliminary agenda can be found here.

Our 2013 Annual Report is designed to convey our vision, and provide an account of the progress we have made toward achieving that vision, in developing the NJPACE program in New Jersey. (Click the title of this entry for a link to the fully report.)

A new report, based on a survey of 288 cities of 30,000+ across the country, shows that America’s Mayors strongly support expanding energy efficiency and renewables in their communities.

Some key findings:

Many mayors anticipate further growth in the deployment of new energy technologies in cities. Two-thirds (67%) of the 288 cities participating in this survey expect the use of new energy technologies to increase over the next five years, with more than one in five cities (21%) in this survey expecting the increase to be “significant.”

Trenton, N.J., Monday, January 13, 2014: At the very last moment, the NJ State Senate took up and passed Assembly Bill 3898 (an identical version of S2632, introduced by Senator Bob Smith at the beginning of 2013). In an associated statement, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee notes that “this bill provides a mechanism for the financing, by municipalities, of water conservation, storm shelter construction, and flood and hurricane resistance projects, and expands the “clean energy special assessment,” established in current law pursuant to P.L.2011, c.187 (N.J.S.A.40:56-1.4 et al.), into the “clean energy and storm resistance special assessment.”

In an article highlighted on NJSpotlight as part of an end-of-the-year series of reflections by former NJ governors, Governor Jim Florio writes:

A relatively new program — PACE, which stands for “Property Assessed Clean Energy” — has taken hold in places like Connecticut, California, and Florida and is literally funding thousands of necessary energy efficiency and green energy projects with private capital. And a project in Livingston, New Jersey, is now in its early stages.

The essence of a PACE program is its use of a municipal special property tax assessment to attach the financing to the property, not the owner. This assessment mechanism uses a municipal-government power, but does not cost the municipality a dime. Typically, these projects more than pay for themselves through energy savings, and they provide greater self-sufficiency and reliability, as well as more comfortable and more resilient buildings.

Featured: Ecovillage NJ and Regenerative Cohousing Solutions

For a while now we’ve been giving serious consideration to where and how we might want to live during this next few years of our lives. Like many others in our age group, we’re officially “empty-nesters,” and are looking to live “more lightly” on the land. We’d also like to be part of a genuine community, where we have deeper relationships with our neighbors, and can work together to bring about more rapid social change.

About CRCS

The Center for Regenerative Community Solutions (CRCS) is a 501c3 NJ nonprofit organization committed to:
• Providing community engagement in planning for sustainability
• Assisting local governments to adapt to climate change
• Helping small businesses and other non-profits to reduce climate change impacts in low and moderate-income communities, including communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy